Damages 3 provides step-by-step guidance on how to prepare opening statements; how to handle cross-examinations and defense "expert" examinations; and new, key methods that explain the relationship between liability and damages. Ball explains why jurors give, why they do not, and how to motivate them to provide a large verdict. -- from publisher.

People need lawyers for many things, including tax and immigration advice, drafting contracts, preparing wills, buying and selling houses, forming and dissolving companies, and representation and advice during divorce, probate, personal injury and criminal charges. But many people do not trust lawyers. With good reason, they fear that lawyers will neglect or overcharge them, betray them out of self-interest or on behalf of others, or obstruct the pursuit of justice out of overzealousness. Although the legal profession drafts ethical rules, law schools teach those rules, the bar exam tests lawyers' knowledge, and disciplinary bodies enforce them, we know that violations by lawyers are all too common. Lawyers on Trial: Understanding Ethical Misconduct by California Attorneys, by Richard L. Abel, presents six dramatic accounts of California lawyers who betrayed their clients and the legal system. Through the detailed records of the disciplinary proceedings, it examines some of the most common complaints about lawyers: chasing ambulances, charging excessive fees, violating conflict of interest rules, and displaying excessive zeal. These complex and compelling dramas serve to make the ethical rules, and the temptations they seek to curb, come vividly alive for law students, lawyers, those thinking of becoming lawyers, anyone who has been or might some day be a client, and the general public. The lessons to be drawn from these situations can help the legal profession and the public devise better strategies for ensuring that lawyers abide by the rules.

"So you want to be a trial lawyer. By reading this manual you have chosen not to fail. By choosing not to fail, you are seeing yourself as a trial lawyer. You have resolved to stand up for those whose light shines dim and whose voice is heard small. It is now time to get your head in the game. The ultimate goal in any trial is to win. You win by telling your client's story in such a way that it compels the jury to see and understand it and believe in it the same way you do. You accomplish that by establishing your credibility with the jury -- by loving your client, telling the truth and being real"--

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

"This book is written to take its readers through each stage of a jury trial, starting with the filing of a lawsuit long before a jury trial begins and ending in the motion practice concluding long after the jury's verdict. The concept of this book is to divide the trial process into its fifteen segments, and with each author giving their perspectives, one from the Plaintiff's perspective and one from the Defendant's perspective. The authors hope and trust that young trial lawyers-to-be will find useful the lessons the authors have learned and shared, within the pages of this book"--